Tag Archives: spies

In my previous study about the church in Philadelphia, I demonstrated that spies had probably infiltrated the church throughout Asia, including this church that is often thought of as a perfect church, one of the two that had no faults for the Lord to mention. However, I believe this is a misconception. Jesus is addressing problems and praiseworthy matters that each of the churches have. Each one may accentuate one or the other, but, in reality all the churches have problems, and all have good works. Read the rest of this entry »

The city of Philadelphia was the sixth city on the Roman mail route, which originated in Ephesus of Asia, and it lay about 28 miles east and southeast of Sardis and forty miles north and northwest of Laodicea. It was one of two churches[1] for whom Jesus had praise but no specific rebuke. Some folks like to interpret these letters to the seven churches to represent specific eras in church history, rather than see the interpretation in the days of the addressees themselves. I liken such interpretations to newspaper and / or historical eisegesis, because it certainly isn’t exegesis. Absolutely everything that is proposed in those interpretations is purely subjective. Not one word of such interpretations could be objectively supported in Scripture. Nearly, always the eisegesis is held in greater honor than how its original readers understood the writing of its author, thus making the word of God of no effect to modern readers. Read the rest of this entry »

The rabbis among the Sanhedrin conspired with the Herodians to catch Jesus in his words. They sent their own disciples with the Herodians as spies, pretending to be honest seekers of truth (Luke 20:20; Matthew 22:15; Mark 12:13). However, Jesus knew their hypocrisy, and Matthew even says Jesus called them hypocrites (Luke 20:23; Matthew 22:17-21; Mark 12:14-17). Jesus told them to bring him the tribute money. It was a Roman denarius, and just like the Jews wouldn’t accept just any coin for the Temple tax, but it had to be a certain one minted in Tyre, neither would Rome accept any coin but the Roman denarius for the tribute money. Read the rest of this entry »

The Lord warns us that we need to beware of hypocrisy. What we are within will be made manifest to others. It is impossible for any of us to hide our true character forever. Eventually, God will bring all things hidden out into the open. The heart of the hypocrite is open to the Lord, and believers are no different. Our hearts, for good or for bad, are open to him as well. The implication Luke 12:1-12 is that the inner realm is much stronger than that of the outer. We cannot hide who we are. In Matthew 10:27, it is the Jesus who spoke in darkness, and what he said had to be proclaimed in the light. In Luke 12:3, it is we who speak in the darkness, and God, for honor or dishonor, will bring that to light as well. What the Lord whispers in our ears will be made public, and what we whisper in the ear of others cannot be hid. It must be made public. There is a power at work here that we are unable to see, but we are able to witness its effect. Read the rest of this entry »

It is inferred by Luke that Annas, the high priest, had sent Ananias and Sapphira into the nascent church (cf. Acts 5:1-13) in order to spy out what was done and bring believers under the authority of the high priest. The same is inferred in Galatians 2:12-13, once one realizes that James didn’t send these people to do what they had done (cf. Galatians 2:4). From time to time Paul had to rebuke a wrong spirit of prophecy or a message or letter that was allegedly from him or one of the other apostles (2Thessalonians 2:2), inferring that others were seeking to gain a foothold in the churches he raised up. Moreover, John also shows there were people who had identified themselves with the apostles but broke away, showing ulterior motives existed among those who did so. Read the rest of this entry »

In the second chapter of Peter’s first epistle, he continues to emphasize the believer’s holiness. That is, believers need to be different from the society in which they dwell. Long-story-short, Peter tells his readers, the Jews of the Diaspora in Asia Minor (1Peter 1:1), since they had been saved through a second birth to become the children of God (1Peter 1:23), and since they refer to God as Father (1Peter 1:17), they need to be different from the world around them. This would be especially so concerning those who intend to do evil against them (1Peter 2:1). God is different, incomparable (Isaiah 46:5), which is the essence of his attribute of holiness. So, when he calls his children to be holy, because he is holy (Leviticus 14:44-45; cf. 1Peter 1:16), he means he expects them to be different or separate from the world around them. His children must not allow themselves to be conformed to the mold (i.e. behavior philosophies, goals, knowledge etc.) of the world. Rather, be separate to serve their holy Father. Read the rest of this entry »

God sent John, the son of Zacharias, to prepare the people of Israel for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. From the very beginning of Luke’s Gospel, we get the idea that something is wrong. Luke doesn’t come right out and say what’s wrong, but what he does say implies corruption, and his implications cannot be missed by Theophilus, the high priest, to whom Luke’s Gospel is addressed. Earlier, Luke alluded to the days of Samuel, the prophet, when the high priesthood was corrupt. The implication is that in John’s day it was no different. Nevertheless, one cannot openly accuse one’s leadership of wrongdoing during the 1st century AD and expect to live a long life. John accused Herod of committing adultery by taking his brother’s wife for himself, and John was beheaded not long afterward. Jesus openly confronted the Jewish leadership (Matthew 21:23-46) and was crucified within a week. Read the rest of this entry »